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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for June 4, 2009
“Always Something to Celebrate and Something to Work On”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
Here is a little illustration that has really helped me out.
Rick Warren said that he used to see life as a series of peaks and valleys. Things were up, then things were down; good times and bad times.
But there is a problem with that. First of all, it makes the bad times really depressing. Yes, there might be light at the end of the tunnel, but right now things are terrible.
Then life suddenly peaks. Ah, the good times! Better enjoy them now, because oh boy, here comes another valley.
That’s the way Rick Warren used to see life. But now, he says, “I’ve come to see that life is like a set of railroad tracks, with good times and bad times running parallel with each other.”
For example, at the same time Warren was enjoying incredible success with his book “The Purpose Driven Life,” his wife was diagnosed with cancer.
It reminds me of the book “Three Weeks With My Brother” by Nicholas Sparks. As an author, Sparks has enjoyed amazing success. Yet so many of his public successes were paralleled with private tragedies.
I don’t know, it just cleared something up for me to see life as the two parallel tracks. It’s never really one or the other. It’s both.
For example, you can never say, “It’s a terrible day.” Even our worst days have the other track.
But now let me take this a step further. I like the railroad track idea, but I don’t like the idea of the tracks being called “good times” and “bad times.”
It sounds so passive, like “Here I am, going down the tracks, good times and bad times.”
So I came up with a phrase I like better, and it goes like this. “There is always something to celebrate and something to work on.”
Saturday my son is getting married. It will be a joyous occasion celebrated by a crowd of family and friends. But it will also be a lot of work, a day filled with details.
And you know how things go. What if some of those details don’t come together just right? What if someone spills coffee on the wedding dress? What if the electricity goes out? Will it turn a good day into a bad day?
No. The celebration is still the same. That’s on a track of its own, and we can’t lose sight of that. But over on the other track there is always something to work on.
Like I said, this way of thinking helps me. I know I can still celebrate the things worth celebrating, while at the same time working on the things that need work.
I see these parallel tracks in the book of Philippians. For example, in Philippians 4:4 Paul writes, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”
That’s one track, the celebration track. We are to rejoice in the Lord always.
But then look at Philippians 2:12. It tells us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.
Those don’t seem to go together – rejoicing on one track, and work on the other, with fear and trembling.
But now let me throw in another word found often in the book of Philippians: Contentment. In Philippians 4:11 Paul wrote, “…I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” He brings it up again in three other verses – contentment.
That’s how I view the middle ground between the two tracks. There is always something to celebrate and always something to work on. When we keep those in balance, we end up with contentment.
“But Doug, you don’t know what I’m going through. It really is a valley of bad times.”
Again, let’s turn to Philippians. Paul went through plenty of valleys, yet he is the one who said “Rejoice in the Lord always.” And he is the one who said he was always content. How did he do it?
The answer is in Philippians 4:13 – I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
So you can do this! When something bad happens, just look at it like “this is something to work on.” And it’s not you alone. It’s you and Christ who gives you strength.
I hope this way of thinking helps you as it helped me. It’s just looking at life through a different lens.
And it’s especially helpful when things get tough. It’s good to know that you aren’t just stuck in some dark valley where everything is bleak.
Like Rick Warren said, life is not good times then bad times. The two run along together like a railroad track.
And it’s not something we passively have to sit back and let happen. We can jump in and do something.
So here’s that little phrase one more time. It goes like this:
There’s always something to celebrate, and something to work on.
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
The Rick Warren story can be found in the book “How to Be Like Coach” by Pat Williams and David Wimbish.
© 2009 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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